Council points to growth in choice of animal shelter location
Post-Tribune
May 25. 2016
The Porter County Council is satisfied with the location of the new county animal shelter and is considering the growth of the county, a council member said Tuesday.
Noting complaints from the Portage administration that the location on Indiana 49 between the Expo Center and the sheriff's department is too far from that city, Council President Dan Whitten, D-at large, wanted confirmation that the site was the best place for a new shelter.
"We're confident that there's no location closer to Portage that works?" Whitten said.
A site under previous consideration at Sunset Hill Farm County Park, at U.S. 6 and Meridian Road, was dropped because that land was owned by the county parks foundation, Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center, said.
Council attorney Scott McClure said the project is too far along at its current site to pull back.
Future growth in the county will be south, said Councilman Jim Biggs, R-1st.
"Twenty years from now, all those cities south of (U.S.) 30 are going to be saying the same thing Portage is now," Biggs said.
Portage is the only city in the county that hasn't signed on to bring its animals to the new shelter and currently takes its animals to the Hobart Humane Society. Portage City Councilwoman Sue Lynch, D-at large, said the location would not preclude the city from bringing its animals there.
"This location seems pretty logical to me," Whitten said, adding it's not in a cornfield between Hebron and Kouts. "People do go to the fair and the Expo Center, and there is easy access."
The facility will have the capacity to expand but is large enough as it's being built to handle Portage's animals, officials said.
On Tuesday, Larson Danielson Construction Co. of LaPorte presented plans for a 14,500-square-foot concrete block building.
Good, who sat on one of the committees for the project, said the shelter would take up about 1.7 acres of the 5-acre parcel.
The county will need to come up with about $2.25 million for the project, said McClure. The facility is about $2.75 million and the county has received a $1 million donation from Jacki Stutzman of Valparaiso toward that cost, McClure said, but the final figure includes soft costs, such as sewer and water service and extending a frontage road along Ind. 49 to serve the facility.
The new shelter would have the capacity for 114 dogs and 96 cats. The current structure, at 2056 Heavilin Road, can hold 50 dogs and 80 cats, shelter director Toni Bianchi said.
County officials deem the new shelter a priority, Whitten said, and discussion of how to fund it will come at the council's next meeting, when council members will have a better handle on operating costs and whether Portage is joining in, which would help boost revenue.
"We don't have to build a facility for the municipalities. We're building a nice facility because we want to," Whitten said, adding it's up to the municipalities to decide whether to be included. "We want everybody included if they want to come."
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